Standard Lemma guide

hour

noun · 11 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: owʹər
  • Received-Pronunciation: /aʊə/
  • Received-Pronunciation: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • /aː(ɹ)/ triphthong smoothing
  • Northumbria: /uːɐ/
  • Canada, US: owr
  • Canada, US: /aʊɚ/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • India: /aː(r)/
  • India: /ɐʋə(r)/
  • India: /ɐwə(r)/
  • homophone: our (depending on accent)
  • rhymes with -aʊə(ɹ)
  • rhymes with -aʊ.ə(ɹ)
  • CMU ARPABET: AW1 ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: AW1 R Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A unit of time of one twenty-fourth of a day (sixty minutes).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: time

Examples

  • Holonyms: day < week < megasecond < fortnight < month < year < gigasecond < century < kiloannum, kiloyear, millennium < terasecond < mega-annum, megayear < petasecond < giga-annum, gigayear < exasecond < zettasecond < yottasecond < ronnasecond < quettasecond
  • Meronyms: quectosecond < rontosecond < yoctosecond < zeptosecond < attosecond < femtosecond < picosecond < nanosecond < microsecond < millisecond < centisecond < decisecond < second < decasecond < minute < hectosecond < kilosecond
  • Near-synonym: microcentury (humorous approximation)
  • I spent an hour at lunch.
  • There's a bus at 20 past the hour.
  • We still have a couple hours left to do in the yard.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: stound, microcentury

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A season, moment, or time.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Don't come home ever again at this unearthly hour.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The time.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: poetic

Examples

  • The hour grows late and I must go home.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Used after a two-digit hour and a two-digit minute to indicate time.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: in-plural

Topics: government, military, politics, war

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

The amount of labor demanded by an employer in terms of time.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: in-plural

Examples

  • I asked my manager for more hours.
  • The shop wasn't giving me enough hours so I started searching for a second job.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

The set times of prayer, the canonical hours, the offices or services prescribed for these, or a book containing them.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: in-plural

Topics: Christianity

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

A distance that can be traveled in one hour.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US

Examples

  • This place is an hour away from where I live.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

distance measured by the time taken to cover it

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • we live an hour from the airport
  • its just 10 minutes away

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: minute

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: distance

9

noun

Meaning 9

a period of time equal to 1/24th of a day

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the job will take more than an hour

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hr, 60 minutes

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: time unit, unit of time

Narrower terms: sidereal hour, man hour, person hour

10

noun

Meaning 10

clock time

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the hour is getting late

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: time of day

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: clock time, time

Narrower terms: noon, twelve noon, high noon, midday, noonday, noontide, mealtime, late-night hour, midnight, small hours, bedtime, closing time, dawn, dawning, morning, aurora, first light, daybreak, break of day, break of the day, dayspring, sunrise, sunup, cockcrow, early-morning hour, sunset, sundown, twilight, dusk, gloaming, gloam, nightfall, evenfall, fall, crepuscule, crepuscle, none, happy hour, rush hour, zero hour, canonical hour

11

noun

Meaning 11

a special and memorable period

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • it was their finest hour

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: time period, period of time, period

History

Etymology

From Middle English houre, hour, oure, from Old French houre, from Latin hōra (“hour”), from Ancient Greek ὥρα (hṓra, “any time or period, whether of the year, month, or day”), from Proto-Indo-European *yóh1r̥ (“year, season”). Akin to Old English ġēar (“year”). Doublet of hora and year. Compare horary. Partly displaced native Old English tīd (“time, hour”), whence Modern English tide.

Across languages

Translations

288 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Abaza: сахӏат (saḥat) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Abkhaz: асааҭ (asaat) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Afrikaans: uur — time period of sixty minutes
  • Afrikaans: stonde — time period of sixty minutes
  • Akan: dɔnhwerew — time period of sixty minutes
  • Akkadian: simanu — time period of sixty minutes
  • Albanian: orë — time period of sixty minutes
  • Aleut: chasix̂ — time period of sixty minutes
  • Southern Altai: саат (saat) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Amharic: ሰአት (säʾät) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Amharic: ሰዓት (säʿat) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Arabic: سَاعَة (sāʕa) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Arabic: ساعة (sāʕa) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Arabic: سَاعَة (saʕə) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Arabic: ساعة (sāʕa) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܫܲܥܬܵܐ (šāʿta) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܣܵܥܲܬ (saʿāt) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Aramaic: ܫܥܬܐ (šāʕtā’) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Aramaic: שעתא (šāʕtā’) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Argobba: ሰዐ (sa'a) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Armenian: ժամ (žam) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Aromanian: oárã — time period of sixty minutes
  • Assamese: ঘন্টা (ghonta) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Asturian: hora — time period of sixty minutes
  • Avar: сагӏат (saʻat) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Azerbaijani: saat — time period of sixty minutes
  • Bashkir: сәғәт (səğət) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Basque: ordu — time period of sixty minutes
  • Basque: oren — time period of sixty minutes
  • Belarusian: гадзі́на (hadzína) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Bengali: ঘন্টা (ghonṭa) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Breton: eur — time period of sixty minutes
  • Breton: eureier — time period of sixty minutes
  • Breton: eurvezh — time period of sixty minutes
  • Bulgarian: час (čas) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Burmese: နာရီ (nari) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Buryat: час (čas) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Buryat: саг (sag) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Carpathian Rusyn: годи́на (hodýna) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Catalan: hora — time period of sixty minutes
  • Chechen: сахьт (saḥrt) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Cherokee: ᏑᏟᎶᏛ (sutlilodv) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Chichewa: ola — time period of sixty minutes
  • Chinese Cantonese: 鐘頭 /钟头 (zung1 tau4) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Chinese Cantonese: 鐘 /钟 (zung1) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Chinese: саат (saat) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Chinese: сахаты (sahatɨ) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Chinese: сышын (sɨšɨn) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Eastern Min Chinese: 點鐘 /点钟 (dēng-cṳ̆ng) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Eastern Min Chinese: 小時 /小时 (siēu-sì) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Hakka Chinese: 點鐘 /点钟 (tiám-chûng) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Chinese: 點鐘 /点钟 (zh-min-nan) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Chinese Mandarin: 小時 /小时 (xiǎoshí) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Chinese Mandarin: 鐘頭 /钟头 (zhōngtóu) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Wu Chinese: 鐘頭 /钟头 (1tson-deu) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Chuvash: сехет (seh̬et) — time period of sixty minutes
  • West Circassian: сыхьат (səḥat) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Ngazidja Comorian: saya — time period of sixty minutes
  • Cornish: eur — time period of sixty minutes
  • Corsican: ora — time period of sixty minutes
  • Crimean Tatar: saat — time period of sixty minutes
  • Czech: hodina — time period of sixty minutes
  • Dalmatian: aura — time period of sixty minutes
  • Danish: time — time period of sixty minutes
  • Dhivehi: ގަޑި (gaḍi) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Dutch: uur — time period of sixty minutes
  • Dutch: stonde — time period of sixty minutes
  • Elfdalian: taime — time period of sixty minutes
  • Esperanto: horo — time period of sixty minutes
  • Estonian: tund — time period of sixty minutes
  • Ewe: gaƒoƒo — time period of sixty minutes
  • Faroese: tími — time period of sixty minutes
  • Fijian: aua — time period of sixty minutes
  • Finnish: tunti — time period of sixty minutes
  • French: heure — time period of sixty minutes
  • Old French: eure — time period of sixty minutes
  • West-Frisian: oere — time period of sixty minutes
  • Friulian: ore — time period of sixty minutes
  • Galician: hora — time period of sixty minutes
  • Ge'ez: ሰዐት (säʿät) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Georgian: საათი (saati) — time period of sixty minutes
  • German: Stunde — time period of sixty minutes
  • German: Schtund — time period of sixty minutes
  • Gothic: 𐍈𐌴𐌹𐌻𐌰 (ƕeila) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Greek: ώρα (óra) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Ancient Greek: ὥρα (hṓra) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Greenlandic: akunneq — time period of sixty minutes
  • Gujarati: કલાક (kalāk) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Hausa: sa'a — time period of sixty minutes
  • Hausa: awa — time period of sixty minutes
  • Hebrew: שָׁעָה (sha'á) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Hindi: घंटा (ghaṇṭā) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Hungarian: óra — time period of sixty minutes
  • Icelandic: klukkustund — time period of sixty minutes
  • Icelandic: klukkutími — time period of sixty minutes
  • Icelandic: tími — time period of sixty minutes
  • Ido: horo — time period of sixty minutes
  • Indonesian: jam — time period of sixty minutes
  • Ingush: сахьат (saḥrat) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Interlingua: hora — time period of sixty minutes
  • Irish: uair — time period of sixty minutes
  • Old Irish: úar — time period of sixty minutes
  • Istriot: ura — time period of sixty minutes
  • Italian: ora — time period of sixty minutes
  • Japanese: 時 (ji) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Japanese: 時間 (jikan) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Javanese: jam — time period of sixty minutes
  • Kannada: ಗಂಟೆ (gaṇṭe) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Kannada: ತಾಸು (tāsu) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Kashubian: gòdzëna — time period of sixty minutes
  • Kazakh: сағат (sağat) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Khmer: ម៉ោង (maong) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Korean: 시 (si) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Korean: 시간 (sigan) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Kumyk: сагьат (sahat) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Northern Kurdish: seet — time period of sixty minutes
  • Kyrgyz: саат (saat) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Ladin: ora — time period of sixty minutes
  • Ladin: ëura — time period of sixty minutes
  • Ladino: ora — time period of sixty minutes
  • Lao: ຊົ່ວໂມງ (sūa mōng) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Latin: hōra — time period of sixty minutes
  • Latvian: stunda — time period of sixty minutes
  • Lezgi: сят (sät) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Lithuanian: valanda — time period of sixty minutes
  • Luxembourgish: Stonn — time period of sixty minutes
  • Macedonian: час (čas) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Macedonian: саат (saat) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Malagasy: ora — time period of sixty minutes
  • Malay: jam — time period of sixty minutes
  • Malayalam: മണിക്കൂർ (maṇikkūṟ) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Maltese: siegħa — time period of sixty minutes
  • Manchu: ᡝᡵᡳᠨ (erin) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Manx: oor — time period of sixty minutes
  • Māori: hāora — time period of sixty minutes
  • Marathi: तास (tās) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Marshallese: awa — time period of sixty minutes
  • Mehri: سات — time period of sixty minutes
  • Mirandese: hora — time period of sixty minutes
  • Mongolian: цаг (cag) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Mongolian: ᠴᠠᠭ (čaɣ) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Navajo: ahééʼílkid — time period of sixty minutes
  • Navajo: óola — time period of sixty minutes
  • Nepali: घण्टा (ghaṇṭā) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Norman: heuthe — time period of sixty minutes
  • Norwegian Bokmål: time — time period of sixty minutes
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: time — time period of sixty minutes
  • Occitan: ora — time period of sixty minutes
  • Odia: ଘଣ୍ଟା (ghaṇṭā) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Ojibwe: diba'igan — time period of sixty minutes
  • Church Slavic: година (godina) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Church Slavic: часъ (časŭ) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Old East Slavic: часъ (časŭ) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Old East Slavic: година (godina) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Oromo: saatii — time period of sixty minutes
  • Ossetian: сахат (saxat) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Pannonian Rusyn: годзина (hodzina) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Papiamentu: ora — time period of sixty minutes
  • Pashto: ساعت (sā'at) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Dari: سَاعَت (sā'at) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Iranian Persian: ساعَت (sâ'at) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Iranian Persian: تَسو (tasu) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Polish: godzina — time period of sixty minutes
  • Portuguese: hora — time period of sixty minutes
  • Punjabi: ਘੰਟਾ (ghaṇṭā) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Romanian: oră — time period of sixty minutes
  • Romanian: ceas — time period of sixty minutes
  • Romansh: ura — time period of sixty minutes
  • Romansh: oura — time period of sixty minutes
  • Russian: час (čas) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Northern Sami: tiibmu — time period of sixty minutes
  • Sanskrit: घण्टा (ghaṇṭā) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Scots: oor — time period of sixty minutes
  • Scottish Gaelic: uair — time period of sixty minutes
  • Serbo-Croatian: са̑т — time period of sixty minutes
  • Serbo-Croatian: ча̏с — time period of sixty minutes
  • Serbo-Croatian: sȃt — time period of sixty minutes
  • Serbo-Croatian: čȁs — time period of sixty minutes
  • Sicilian: ura — time period of sixty minutes
  • Sidamo: saate — time period of sixty minutes
  • Sinhalese: පැය (pæya) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Slovak: hodina — time period of sixty minutes
  • Slovene: úra — time period of sixty minutes
  • Somali: saacad — time period of sixty minutes
  • Lower Sorbian: góźina — time period of sixty minutes
  • Lower Sorbian: štunda — time period of sixty minutes
  • Upper Sorbian: hodźina — time period of sixty minutes
  • Spanish: hora — time period of sixty minutes
  • Old Spanish: ora — time period of sixty minutes
  • Swahili: saa — time period of sixty minutes
  • Swedish: timme — time period of sixty minutes
  • Tagalog: oras — time period of sixty minutes
  • Tajik: соат (soat) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Tamil: மணி (maṇi) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Tamil: மணிநேரம் (maṇinēram) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Tamil: மணித்தியாலம் (maṇittiyālam) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Taos: ùroʼóna — time period of sixty minutes
  • Tatar: сәгать (säğät) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Telugu: గంట (gaṇṭa) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Tetum: tuku — time period of sixty minutes
  • Thai: ชั่วโมง (chûua-moong) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Tibetan: ཆུ་ཚོད (chu tshod) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Tigrinya: ሰዓት (säʿat) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Tok Pisin: aua — time period of sixty minutes
  • Tumbuka: ola — time period of sixty minutes
  • Turkish: saat — time period of sixty minutes
  • Turkish: sögen — time period of sixty minutes
  • Ottoman Turkish: ساعت (saʾat) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Turkmen: sagat — time period of sixty minutes
  • Tuvan: шак (şak) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Udi: сагьад (sahad) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Ukrainian: годи́на (hodýna) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Ulithian: aawa — time period of sixty minutes
  • Unami: awël — time period of sixty minutes
  • Urdu: گَھنْٹا (ghanṭā) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Urdu: گَھنْٹَہ (ghanṭa) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Urdu: ساعَت (sā'at) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Uyghur: سائەت (sa'et) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Uzbek: soat — time period of sixty minutes
  • Venetan: óra — time period of sixty minutes
  • Vietnamese: giờ — time period of sixty minutes
  • Vietnamese: tiếng — time period of sixty minutes
  • Volapük: düp — time period of sixty minutes
  • Walloon: eure — time period of sixty minutes
  • Welsh: awr — time period of sixty minutes
  • Wolaytta: saatiya — time period of sixty minutes
  • Yaghnobi: соат (soat) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Yakut: чаас (čaas) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Yiddish: שעה (sho) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Yiddish: שטונדע (shtunde) — time period of sixty minutes
  • Yup'ik: cass'aq — time period of sixty minutes
  • Zhuang: cungdaeuz — time period of sixty minutes
  • Arabic: وَقْت (waqt) — the time
  • Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܫܲܥܬܵܐ (šāʿta) — the time
  • Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܥܕܵܢܵܐ (ʿdana) — the time
  • Armenian: ժամ (žam) — the time
  • Asturian: hora — the time
  • Bengali: বেলা (bela) — the time
  • Catalan: hora — the time
  • Czech: hodina — the time
  • Dutch: uur — the time
  • Dutch: tijd — the time
  • Galician: hora — the time
  • German: Zeit — the time
  • German: Uhr — the time
  • Greek: ώρα (óra) — the time
  • Greek: χρόνος (chrónos) — the time
  • Irish: uair — the time
  • Old Irish: úar — the time
  • Latin: hora — the time
  • Macedonian: часот (časot) — the time
  • Marshallese: awa — the time
  • Iranian Persian: زَمان (zamân) — the time
  • Portuguese: hora — the time
  • Romanian: oră — the time
  • Romansh: ura — the time
  • Romansh: oura — the time
  • Russian: час (čas) — the time
  • Russian: вре́мя (vrémja) — the time
  • Russian: годи́на (godína) — the time
  • Scots: oor — the time
  • Scottish Gaelic: uair — the time
  • Lower Sorbian: cas — the time
  • Lower Sorbian: štunda — the time
  • Spanish: hora — the time
  • Tamil: மணி (maṇi) — the time
  • Tok Pisin: aua — the time
  • Chinese Cantonese: 點 /点 (dim2) — unit to denote the hour, such as military usage in English
  • Chinese Cantonese: 點鐘 /点钟 (dim2 zung1) — unit to denote the hour, such as military usage in English
  • Chinese Cantonese: 時 /时 (si4) — unit to denote the hour, such as military usage in English
  • Chinese: саат (saat) — unit to denote the hour, such as military usage in English
  • Chinese: сахаты (sahatɨ) — unit to denote the hour, such as military usage in English
  • Chinese: сышын (sɨšɨn) — unit to denote the hour, such as military usage in English
  • Eastern Min Chinese: 點鐘 /点钟 (dēng-cṳ̆ng) — unit to denote the hour, such as military usage in English
  • Eastern Min Chinese: 時 /时 (sì) — unit to denote the hour, such as military usage in English
  • Hakka Chinese: 點鐘 /点钟 (tiám-chûng) — unit to denote the hour, such as military usage in English
  • Chinese: 點鐘 /点钟 (zh-min-nan) — unit to denote the hour, such as military usage in English
  • Chinese Mandarin: 時 /时 (shí) — unit to denote the hour, such as military usage in English
  • Chinese Mandarin: 點 /点 (diǎn) — unit to denote the hour, such as military usage in English
  • Chinese Mandarin: 點鐘 /点钟 (diǎn zhōng) — unit to denote the hour, such as military usage in English
  • Wu Chinese: 點 /点 (tie) — unit to denote the hour, such as military usage in English
  • Wu Chinese: 時 /时 (zy) — unit to denote the hour, such as military usage in English
  • Wu Chinese: 點鐘 /点钟 (tie tzon) — unit to denote the hour, such as military usage in English
  • French: heures — unit to denote the hour, such as military usage in English
  • Japanese: 時 (ji) — unit to denote the hour, such as military usage in English
  • Korean: 시 (si) — unit to denote the hour, such as military usage in English
  • Marshallese: awa — unit to denote the hour, such as military usage in English
  • Tamil: மணிநேரம் (maṇinēram) — unit to denote the hour, such as military usage in English